The God Who Will Not Stay Dead: On Resurrection

*This sermon is the foundation from which a much more colorful sermon that I delivered yesterday at the funeral of Carol Orr arose (which can be found on the Facebook page of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church). She was a very dear friend. The entire time I knew her, she demanded that I never back down from a fight.  I hope I’ve made her proud.

**All scripture comes from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

Resurrection in Creation

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God arose out of chaos. God pressed breath into dust. “Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). And then, “…God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

Friends, listen to me…every one of us carries resurrection in our flesh. To be human is to bear the stamp of the God who will not stay dead. And here’s the heart of it…Christ was in God, and God was in Christ, from the very beginning. Resurrection wasn’t an afterthought. Resurrection is at the core of God’s being. Resurrection is not just what God does…it is who God is. And because we are made in God’s image, resurrection pulses in us too.

God’s Image Preserved Through History

Adam and Eve

Look at the Garden. Adam and Eve fail. They hid in shame. But God makes garments, clothes them (Genesis 3:21). That’s resurrection. Shame covered. Humanity restored. The image of God preserved. And friends, let me tell you, to bear God’s image is to know that even when we fall…resurrection wraps us again in dignity.

Israel in Egypt

When Pharaoh threw Hebrew babies into the Nile (Exodus 1:22), he tried to erase God’s image. But God…turned the waters of death into waters of deliverance. The sea split, and Israel walked through on dry ground (Exodus 14:21–22). That’s resurrection on the scale of a nation. To be made in God’s image is to resist the Pharaohs who deal in death.

Psalms, Job and the Call to Rise

The Psalms…they sing it. “You brought me up, O LORD” (Psalm 30:3). “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4). “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). To be human is to rise with the morning…to carry in our bones the rhythm of resurrection.

Job, crushed in the ash heap, says it, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25). That’s the image of God refusing to surrender to despair. Resurrection will find a way through. Always.

Jesus: Resurrection Embodied

Healings and Raising the Dead

Then Jesus. The fullness of resurrection with skin on. He declares, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Look at Jesus and you see God in full…resurrection embodied. And he shows us. “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” (Mark 5:41). “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (Luke 7:14). “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). Every one of us…made in God’s image…is called to do the same. Raise. Heal. Restore.

The Cross and Resurrection

Then comes the cross. Blood. Nails. Silence. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). Death tried to shatter the image of God. But the image of God cannot be broken.

On the third day, the stone rolled back. “He has been raised; he is not here” (Mark 16:6). Mary heard her name (John 20:16). Thomas touched the wounds (John 20:27). The disciples locked the doors, but Jesus walked right through (John 20:19). That is resurrection…the image of God alive, unstoppable. We stand in victory with Christ…the resurrected God.

Living Resurrection in Acts and Paul

Acts shouts it forward: “God raised him up, and of that we are witnesses” (Acts 2:32). To bear God’s image is to be a living witness to resurrection. Not to just say it…to live it.

Paul puts it in the strongest word he knows…love. “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Love is resurrection. Love is the image of God in us. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love without end. Leave no body behind. That is what resurrection is about.

Revelation: The Fulfillment of Resurrection

Revelation gives us a vision of the fullness of resurrection. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more” (Revelation 21:4). Death…thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). The river of life flowing through the city. The tree of life with leaves for the healing of nations (Revelation 22:1–3). That is the destiny of all of those made in the image of resurrection…all of us…humanity restored…creation made whole.

It’s all Resurrection.

So…stop treating resurrection like a metaphor….stop pushing it off as imagery. Resurrection isn’t an idea. Resurrection is who God is. And we…made in God’s image…we are resurrection’s reflection.

It’s all resurrection.

Creation unveils resurrection. Exodus exhibits resurrection. Psalms sing resurrection. Job cries resurrection. Jesus embodies resurrection. Acts preaches resurrection. Paul defines resurrection. Revelation fulfills resurrection.

Let me repeat…it’s all resurrection.

Resurrection as Our Identity

Every breath you take is resurrection because you are made in God’s image. Every time you rise after falling, resurrection speaks through you. Every time you love in a world of hate, God’s image shines through you. And when your body lies down in death…resurrection will still call your name…because the God who made you in his image is the God who will not let you stay dead.

That’s the gospel. That’s the heartbeat of God. In fact, that’s the only damn thing worth preaching about. Resurrection.

*added section connecting the death penalty:

And yet, we cannot speak of resurrection without naming the ways we refuse it in our world. The death penalty…final, irreversible…is the very opposite of resurrection. It says some bodies cannot rise…some lives are beyond redemption…some images of God can be erased. But God’s truth shouts louder…every human bears the stamp of resurrection. Every condemned life is still God’s creation, still capable of being lifted and still worthy of restoration. To honor resurrection is to resist the executioner’s supposed claim on life.

*If you would like to support the Execution Intervention Project (the organization that financially supports Dr. Hood’s work), click here.